BEIJING: Premier Li Keqiang has pledged stronger market regulation measures for raw materials as part of broader steps to reduce business costs and maintain China’s major economic indicators within a proper range.
Speaking at a symposium soliciting opinions from experts and entrepreneurs on the economy, Li stressed the need for a scientific implementation of targeted macro regulation and to continue with a targeted implementation of structural tax cuts.
The premier listened to economists Zhang Xiaojing and Peng Wensheng and executives from Baiyun Power Group, Zhejiang China Commodities City Group Co Ltd and online travel agency Trip.com. While speaking positively of the government’s rollout of tax cuts and fee reductions, they highlighted the mounting costs faced by businesses due to the hike in international bulk community prices. Li said that the economy has taken on a momentum of steady recovery this year, and recovery is now on a more stable footing.
In a sign of faster-than-expected economic recovery, the purchasing managers index for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 51.9 in March, up from 50.6 in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The NBS is slated to unveil major economic indicators for the first quarter on Friday.
With renewed uncertainties from the complex and challenging international environment and uneven domestic recovery, it is important to take on a comprehensive and objective perspective on economic performance and pay equal attention to macroeconomic data and the experience of market players, Li said.
He reiterated the need to maintain the consistency, stability and sustainability of macro policies, avoid sharp policy U-turns and properly guide market expectations.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
